There are many ways in which video can be used in your online business for both branding and marketing. Just think the statement “if a picture paints a thousand words” what impact do you think that using video would have on your business?
Just think about YouTube for a moment since it is the biggest video sharing site. The statistics are mind boggling (Source: Google March 2011) :-
– YouTube has more than 2 billion views every single day
– 24 hours of video are uploaded every single minute
– The average person spends 15 minutes a day on YouTube
It is pretty clear then that video is definitely here to stay and will continue to grow at a great pace. Make sure that you use video for building your online business. Let’s look at some of the ways you can use the video phenomenon to your advantage.
Video on Your Website
Online videos help visitors to make that personal connection with you. Visitors are much more likely to engage with you and stay on your website if you have a video welcoming them on your front page. Straight away video will allow you to stand head and shoulders above the competition.
Video Blogging
With so many blog posts being written every single day how do you make sure that visitors return to your website? The answer is simple – use video for your blog posts. Not only does this captivate your audience (provided of course the content is relevant and interesting) but assuming you are using YouTube to stream your video, then you have the added advantage of building up your credibility on your channel as well. If you have an important message to get across, then it may be as well to use an online video platform such as comF5 for your video streaming.
If video blogging is not for you, then make sure that you at least illustrate your blog posts with appropriate video content which you can get from YouTube and other video sharing sites.
Video Email Broadcasts
Why not use video to engage with your subscribers? This is far more interesting and captivating that plain text email broadcasts. Most of the reputable auto responders make this simple to do. All you have to do is video the content, upload it to a free video sharing site such as YouTube or a private online video platform such as comF5, and then have a link to the video in your broadcast.
Video Email
Nowadays it is easier than ever to send video email using specialist providers such as comF5. Video email is a fantastic way to build relationships with your prospects and customers. The use of video allows you to be more personal and expressive and give impact to your message as well as standing out from the crowd.
Video on Social Media
Stand out from the crowd by using video to engage with friends and followers on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. You have a far greater chance of friends and followers noticing your messages when you deliver messages via video. Think about how more likely you are to respond to a video introduction to a new friend on Facebook for example. Facebook makes it incredibly easy by giving you a video tab to post your message, provided you have a webcam attached to your computer.
YouTube Video
Every video you “upload” to YouTube expands your marketing reach provided you follow the simple rules of keyword tagging and make sure your videos are relevant to your audience. This is a great place to create awareness but be aware that the content is no longer yours once it is uploaded!
Video Training
Training can easily be delivered via video and many studies show that video communicates better than graphics and text alone. Training can be delivered by a series of videos or via webinars. Recorded once and delivered many times.
Summary
As an online business you want to drive awareness of your products and services, convert potential customers to advocates and create significant loyalty. This can be done using a combination of free video sites and an online video platform such as comF5 because it is critical to retain the rights to important video content.
The best suggestion is to create awareness and drive viral sharing with free video sites then direct viewers back to your website where you utilize targeted video content hosted on a secure online video platform such as comF5 where you drive engagement and action.
A system which teaches all the latest internet marketing and traffic generation strategies including video marketing will make all the difference to the success of your online business.